Peter Richardson has been given the Wainwright Achievement Award for his enormous contribution to life in Kendal.

The award goes to "the person who has done most during the previous 12 months to promote the prestige of Kendal or who has contributed significantly to the betterment of its inhabitants".

For 12 years, Mr Richardson, of Eastgate, Kendal, has freely devoted his time to the caring of mentally and physically-handicapped children.

Working as part of Respite Care Kendal, Mr Richardson and his wife have taken children into their home for short periods of time "to give parents time off."

"As everyone will appreciate, caring for a child with disabilities can be very exhausting for parents," said Mr Richardson.

"We aim to give them quality time to themselves."

Respite Care has been established in Kendal for 15 years.

A Kendalian by birth, Mr Richardson left school at 15 and worked for four years in Croppers Paper Mill before joining K Shoes, where he remained for 42 years until his retirement last June.

He told the Gazette: "I'm very proud to receive this recognition and I'm grateful to accept it."

His wife Fay said the award was "well deserved" and that she was "very proud" of her husband.

Mr Richardson is also a member of the Sandylands Methodist Church Choir, which regularly entertains the more elderly members of the community.

"It is a joy to sing to them," said Mr Richardson, "and to chat about the wonderful experiences they have had in their lives."

The award was set up by former Kendal borough treasurer and famous fellwalker and writer Alfred Wainwright, who established a trust on June 5, 1989, shortly before his death.

Nominations for the £500 prize are invited by the town council each December.

The winner is chosen by six trustees: the mayor, deputy mayor, town clerk, town treasurer and two senior council members.

Those who were shortlisted, they said, were of a "very, very high quality indeed."

Kendal Mayor Tom Clare told Mr Richardson: "You have devoted your life to benefiting the children of this town in many different ways.

"You have had a life of involvement to the advantage of Kendal.

It gives me very great pleasure to say, 'Well done.'"

The presentation was made after drinks and a buffet in the Mayor's Parlour at the close of the latest town council meeting.